Manchester United's chief executive, David Gill, has said the club will not fire the gun on the race to succeed Sir Alex Ferguson until the 65-year-old manager gives a date for his retirement. Ferguson, currently on a rolling one-year contract, has made it clear he will not declare a retirement date publicly, having previously announced his intention to go at the end of the 2001-02 season only to change his mind midway through that campaign.

Having won so many trophies since taking charge at Old Trafford in November 1986, Ferguson will clearly be a formidable act to follow and finding a successor as United manager will be equally daunting for Gill and the club's owners, the Glazer family.

Despite Ferguson suggesting last season that he will "just go"' when he finally decides to retire, Gill admits that no plans have been drawn up or shortlists compiled in an effort to ensure a smooth transition at the club.

"We will cross that bridge when we come to it," he said, "but we haven't even discussed it yet.

"It's not like a normal business where you can plan. It is about who is in vogue. You can have ideas of another manager who you think is great and then a season later he's out of favour. Stuart Pearce, for example, was touted as the next England manager and then suddenly he loses his job [at Manchester City].

"You keep abreast of the situation, but it doesn't take up any of my time. That may sound strange but that's the way it is.

"We believe we're building a first-class squad with Sir Alex and the age of the squad is really good. As he said the other day, he will, ultimately, retire, and at that point the squad that his successor inherits will hopefully be an extremely good squad."

Two former United players, Mark Hughes and Roy Keane, are both seen as front runners to succeed Ferguson having impressed at Blackburn Rovers and Sunderland respectively, but Gill admits that United's recent return to prominence underlines Ferguson's continuing hunger and ambition.

"We recognised that 2005-06 was a difficult season and that Chelsea were way ahead, but it always looks a bit more out of control and doom and gloom from the outside. You get those phases and Sir Alex is experienced to know that things turn around pretty quickly," Gill said.

"His plans for the squad, which he was working on with Carlos Queiroz, were moving in the right direction. I think there has been a transformation and it has been very positive and last season was great."

Plans by the Glazers to restructure the club's £660m debt have been put on hold because of a downturn in the global debt markets, but Gill insists that the American owners are fully committed to United and have no plans to sell, despite recent speculation to the contrary.

He said: "This thing comes out from various soccer 'gurus', who shall remain nameless, that they [the Glazers] are looking to do this or that. They are not at all. They are very wealthy individuals. They see the asset and they're very happy with it and the growth they see in it.

"We have a stable structure off the field and a stable structure on the field. We are still in debt but banks don't lend money if they're not comfortable that there's a good covenant on and that the interest payments can be met. Our turnover this year will be over £200m. Our profits will be substantially up and that was before we knew all about the new TV deals, which come in next year."